Following Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget announcement in February, the government has identified 19 additional National Waterways (NWs) to be operationalised over the coming five years, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that Karnataka had five identified waterways and Jammu and Kashmir had three. The announcement follows a wider push to develop sustainable inland navigation as part of national infrastructure priorities.

The ministry noted that the initiative aims to promote environmentally sustainable movement of cargo and passenger transport. It cited plans to begin with NW-5 in Odisha to link mineral-rich areas of Talcher and Angul and industrial centres such as Kalinga Nagar with the ports of Paradeep and Dhamra, in line with the Budget outline. Officials expect improved river connectivity to ease pressure on road and rail networks and to lower logistics costs for bulk goods.

As of now 32 NWs are operational for cargo and passenger movement, and the ministry expects to operationalise several more in the current financial year. These include NW-49 Jhelum River, NW-26 Chenab River and NW-84 Ravi River in Jammu and Kashmir, together with NW-51 Kabini River and NW-90 Sharavati River in Karnataka, and NW-88 Sal River in Goa. The ministry emphasised that coordinated efforts on dredging, terminals and vessel operations will be required to translate identified waterways into reliable services.

The government intends to increase the share of water-based transport of goods and passengers owing to its environmental benefits, while acknowledging that past constraints such as low draft depths and instances of vessels becoming stranded have hindered growth of the sector. The ministry also runs a scheme offering a 35 per cent discount on charges on inland waterways to encourage usage and investment in the sector. Stakeholders have previously urged sustained maintenance and investment to address draft issues and navigational safety, the ministry noted as it highlighted the discount scheme.